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Michael Learns To Rock: Still learning to rock after 25 years
Romantic lyrics accompanied by catchy tunes that catch the hearts of those who are in love or heartbroken are the trademark of the band, which was established in 1988 by vocalist and keyboardist Jascha Richter, guitarist Mikkel Lentz and drummer Kare Wanscher
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Romantic lyrics accompanied by catchy tunes that catch the hearts of those who are in love or heartbroken are the trademark of the band, which was established in 1988 by vocalist and keyboardist Jascha Richter, guitarist Mikkel Lentz and drummer Kare Wanscher. There was another guitarist, Soren Madsen, when the band was formed, but he left in 2000.
The name 'Michael Learns To Rock' was based on the trend of band names in the 80s and connected to Michael Jackson, the late king of pop.
'When we started in 1988, bands like Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Johnny Hates Jazz were very popular because they were cool names. And then we combined with Michael Jackson, because he was the king of pop, so we made a band called Michael Learns to Rock. So it's Michael Jackson. He is the Michael,' Lentz told The Jakarta Post.
One of the earliest international hit singles from the band was 'The Actor', released in 1992. This single did well in Europe and Asia but did not succeed in other regions. Nevertheless, 'The Actor' is still played frequently on the radio, music stations and in malls in and around Asia even today.
The band really hit the international music scene a year later with their second album, Colours, which features eternal and timeless singles like 'Sleeping Child', '25 Minutes' and 'Out Of The Blue'.
The album sold 1.1 million copies worldwide and like 'The Actor', the singles on this album have also managed to entrance generations of listeners and are still frequently played today.
Lentz said the band felt that the reason their songs were so timeless was the fact that they would always remain relevant to everyone regardless of musical taste, race, ethnicity or religion.
Anyone who has been heartbroken by a girl because of a lack of self confidence can always relate to 'The Actor'. Anyone who has a newborn baby can always relate to 'Sleeping Child'. Anyone who is in love can always relate to 'Out Of The Blue': the list goes on and on.
'They don't belong to any genre. It is not like Britpop or grunge or whatever it is, just classic pop songs. So, I think they are timeless and I think that's the clue actually to Michael Learns To Rock,' Lentz says.
'I think we are very timeless and honestly, very old fashioned in the way we produce music. And we never change or try a new sound or whatever. We never change good melodies. I think that's the reason we are still around.'
He claimed it very difficult to write simple and catchy songs.
'It's really, really difficult. We really work very hard with the music. We normally take a very long time recording a song because we keep on working and changing it to be as good as it can be.'
The commitment to working hard to make good music, in Lentz's view, is something that has been missing lately from the international music scene and that is why bands or singers who are capable of making timeless songs have become so rare.
Lentz criticized the continuously growing trend of using idol shows to find musical talents ' he considers such shows to be about entertainment, not music.
'To be honest, I think a lot of ambitious young people, they get it wrong. Success is a very great thing but you have to earn the right to success,' he said.
'A lot of people now sing the same just to get famous and I'm not sure this is good for music. There are a lot of artists and singers but what we need is people who can actually write beautiful songs. It's too much business and too little music.'
To commemorate the band's 25-plus years in music, Michael Learns To Rock has already launched a number of projects.
First, the band has already released its biggest and most comprehensive greatest hits collection in an album simply titled 25 on Oct. 25.
The album was preceded by the release of the new single 'Silent Times' in September. Fans can immediately own this track when they purchase the pre-order 25 on iTunes as an instant-grat track.
'Silent Times' ' one of 2 new recordings in the collection ' is written by Wayne Hector (One Direction, James Blunt, Nicki Minaj, Westlife, Olly Murs), Peter Wallevik (Kylie Minogue), Pat Devine and Tommy Gee.
The other new song, 'Call On Love', is written by the team behind the US number one hit 'Rude' by the group Magic.
The album 25 marks the first time that all of Michael Learns To Rock's hits have been presented in one collection, offering a soundtrack of hits as fans walk down their private memory lane.
'The collection of songs on this album represents the best of our work during the last 25 years. Listening to the album brings back a lot of memories and makes me confident that it has all been worth it. I hope that listening to this album will also bring you some good memories and great, positive emotions,' Wanscher said.
The band's second upcoming project, according to Lentz, is a special album that will offer something really unique again to fans.
'We are planning an album for 2015. I think it will be mostly acoustic. We have had quite a lot of acoustic concerts with acoustic piano, acoustic guitar and acoustic bass and it sounds pretty cool,' he says.
'The songs are very intimate and they actually work very, very well if we play acoustic. You know our hits; '25 Minutes', 'Someday', 'That's Why You Go Away' and 'Paint My Love', they sound pretty good actually. So, we will try to work on that.'
